IHS Jane’s: Mideast Military Spending Among the World’s Fastest Growing

Middle Eastern countries led by Saudi Arabia and Oman have rapidly been increasing their defense budgets since 2011, one of the reasons global military spending will rise again this year, a new study shows.

Four out of the five countries that saw the fastest rise in military spending are from the Middle East, according to IHS Jane’s Annual Defence Budgets Review.

“We have seen a rapid acceleration of defense spending in the Middle East since 2011. Oman and Saudi Arabia, in particular, have seen rapid growth of over 30% between 2011 and 2013,” said Fenella McGerty, a senior analyst for IHS Jane’s Aerospace, Defence & Security.

In the top 10 of fastest-growing defense markets, six countries are from the Middle East. Besides Oman and Saudi Arabia, they are Iraq, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Algeria.

Oman’s defense budget surged 36% to $9.3 billion in 2013 compared to the previous year, while Saudi Arabia boosted its military spending by 19% to $42.9 billion in 2013, the largest rise for the kingdom since 2007.

Analysts at IHS say the Middle East’s growing military expenditure is a sign of the region’s expanding economic strength.

“With military budgets among many of the major NATO nations due to continue to contract over the next 12 months, the center of gravity of defense expenditure is expected to continue to shift south and east in 2014, following the trend of global economic expansion,” said Paul Burton, Director at IHS Jane’s Aerospace, Defence & Security.

“Russia, Asia and the Middle East will provide the impetus behind the growth in global military spending expected this year and will drive the recovery projected from 2016 onwards,” Mr. Burton said.

Globally, defense spending is seen inching 0.6% higher to $1.547 trillion in 2014, in part thanks to the Middle Eastern contribution, the first increase in five years, the report says.

The U.S. still has the world’s largest defense budget, ahead of China and Russia. Saudi Arabia has the biggest military expenditure in the Middle East.